1. Technical Field
The present specification relates to a battery unit including a battery that supplies electric power to a motor for running of an electric vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
In some electric vehicles, a converter is arranged between a pair of main wires that connect a battery and a motor for running to each other, and a pair of sub-wires that connect a sub-battery to auxiliaries (a power steering, an air-conditioner and the like). This converter performs at least either steps up or steps down a voltage to exchange electric power between the main wires and the sub-wires. In the present specification, this converter is referred to as a main-sub (which is abbreviated as MS because the converter is arranged between the main wires and the sub-wires) converter. Switches are inserted in the pair of the main wires respectively, and can make a changeover between a state where the main battery and the motor for running are connected to each other, and a state where the main battery and the motor for running are disconnected from each other.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-30722 (JP 2008-30722 A), there is described an art of arranging both a main battery and an MS converter in a luggage room that is located in a vehicle rear region. In this art, a case that accommodates the MS converter is arranged on a case that accommodates the main battery. In this configuration, a main-side converter wire that connects the MS converter to a main wire is routed in such a manner as to be exposed to the outside of the case that accommodates the MS converter, and to the outside of the case that accommodates the main battery.